Sunday, February 14, 2010

Why Job?

You ever notice when suffering enters the equation, we all run to Job? He's not the only person in the Bible to suffer, you know.

Jeremiah was called "The Weeping Prophet." It was his fun job to tell the Israelites they were about to suffer judgment for all the stupid stunts they'd been pulling for generations.

Hosea was told by God to marry and remain faithful to a prostitute as an example of how God remained faithful to the nation of Israel while "she" (Israel as a nation is always referred to in the feminine in the Bible) prostituted herself with false gods.

Jesus got to spend His whole life looking forward to the suffering on the cross. Why does Job get all the press?

Maybe we like that Job's happy ending comes in this life. We like the idea that suffering doesn't follow us around to the grave.

Do we forget that this life is not all there is? This is our beginning, but it is not our end. Jesus said, "Do not fear those who can destroy the body. Rather, fear the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell." Suffering, however long it is endured, is temporary. Even if I die here, I will live forever with Christ.

I say all this to say, I think my cold is gone again. How long, I don't know. I'm thinking I should just isolate myself until spring. Don't know how my boss would feel about that. Anyone else who's tried to have contact with me should be totally fine with it. I'm not a pleasant sick person, though to be fair, all I ask is to be left alone to live or die. Why is that so hard?

I'm not Job. I'm not Jeremiah, or Hosea or Jesus. I don't like to suffer and I don't do it well. I hope the worst I'm called to suffer remains colds. Otherwise, I'll be needing a lot more grace.

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